In Paris, a young girl is born to a couple of loving parents. They have everything they desire, but one thing does not last. One day, the girl's mother dies, and the girl is left without a father or a wife. The narrator tells the story of the little girl, Belle, who has never found out about her mother's death. She has run off to Italy with her father to visit two castles and a masquerade ball. When the narrator asks her where she has been, she tells him that she has gone to two cities in Northern Italy. She tells the narrator that her name means "feared she rather odd" . She says that she can hear the villagers talking about her, but that she does not notice them. She goes on to say that her mother would have wanted her to stay in the small village where she lives, because the village is small minded, and people talk but are also safe. Her father tells her that she should make sure that she is home before dark, and that the washing is done by hand, because that is the way it is done in the village. He adds that he was proud of his mother, who used to say, "the people who talk back behind your back will be destined to stay here." The narrator says that the villagers will never trust the change he and his father are trying to bring, because they do not trust change. He says that his father wants to protect him, but he does not want to marry her. He wants to "make a difference" in the world.